Ongoing boar woes

moodysuzy

moodysuzy

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It seems our boar issues are never-ending.

After the passing of one of our boys a year ago, we sent our remaining boy (prawn) to go dating at a local rescue centre. He came away paired with a lovely big boss boy (goose).

They’ve been together 4 months now and until recently got on fine. Goose is the boss (he’s massive and prawn is a tiny boy), and while there was a fair amount of dominance it calmed after the first month and was never a anything worrying.

But they seem to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed a few days ago - goose was being excessively dominant, chasing and humping prawn a LOT, being very persistent. Prawn was being so good and just dealing with it at first, but I think he’s had enough and the last couple of days he’s started rumbling back at goose (who obviously is not happy about it) and getting in his space a bit - this triggers goose into chasing prawn and they both get quite chattery and defensive.

There’s been a lot of chasing, loud chattering and the odd yawn. Yesterday we found goose had a small cut on his lip, and prawn has quite a few shallow cuts on his back end. They’re not deep and don’t seem to have bled really.

They both happily still share a pellet bowl (they have two but always end up sharing one!) and will eat hay together. I’ve caught them sleeping quite close together a couple of times. However the aggression, rumbling, and chasing hasn’t stopped.

I’m not sure what to do, they’ve had such a good relationship I’m extremely reluctant to separate them. But equally I don’t want either of them to get seriously hurt. They’ve both seemed a bit downtrodden since this all began, so I know they’re not happy right now.

They are both about 3 years old, and share a 4x3 c&c cage.

Any help greatly appreciated, thanks :)
 
First thing I would do is take all their houses, igloos and tunnels out so only bowls and bottle left. Then put 2 piles if hay in so if they want to be undercover they can go underneath. See how things go, you could give them some veggies treats or a little fresh grass which often distract them from aggressive behaviour.
 
Stewybus said:
First thing I would do is take all their houses, igloos and tunnels out so only bowls and bottle left. Then put 2 piles if hay in so if they want to be undercover they can go underneath. See how things go, you could give them some veggies treats or a little fresh grass which often distract them from aggressive behaviour.
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They’re on pretty minimal decor at the moment: yesterday I took everything out except their two tunnels (along with hay, water etc)

They are very easily distracted with any sort of food, sadly I’m working from the office these days so it’s hard to keep them sufficiently distracted…I have cctv in them so all I can do is watch!
 
moodysuzy said:
It seems our boar issues are never-ending.

After the passing of one of our boys a year ago, we sent our remaining boy (prawn) to go dating at a local rescue centre. He came away paired with a lovely big boss boy (goose).

They’ve been together 4 months now and until recently got on fine. Goose is the boss (he’s massive and prawn is a tiny boy), and while there was a fair amount of dominance it calmed after the first month and was never a anything worrying.

But they seem to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed a few days ago - goose was being excessively dominant, chasing and humping prawn a LOT, being very persistent. Prawn was being so good and just dealing with it at first, but I think he’s had enough and the last couple of days he’s started rumbling back at goose (who obviously is not happy about it) and getting in his space a bit - this triggers goose into chasing prawn and they both get quite chattery and defensive.

There’s been a lot of chasing, loud chattering and the odd yawn. Yesterday we found goose had a small cut on his lip, and prawn has quite a few shallow cuts on his back end. They’re not deep and don’t seem to have bled really.

They both happily still share a pellet bowl (they have two but always end up sharing one!) and will eat hay together. I’ve caught them sleeping quite close together a couple of times. However the aggression, rumbling, and chasing hasn’t stopped.

I’m not sure what to do, they’ve had such a good relationship I’m extremely reluctant to separate them. But equally I don’t want either of them to get seriously hurt. They’ve both seemed a bit downtrodden since this all began, so I know they’re not happy right now.

They are both about 3 years old, and share a 4x3 c&c cage.

Any help greatly appreciated, thanks :)
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Hi

Just use all the usual tricks to avoid flashpoints for conflict.

The wild ancestor species from which guinea pigs have been bred out from as farm animals several thousand years ago has a distinct breeding season between Spring and Autumn when fresh grass (high in vitamin C) and supplementing whild forage is in plentiful supply. Our domesticated guinea pig breed does no longer have a distinct breeding season but boars can in some cases experience stronger hormone spikes in early spring when their sexual drive would kind of wake up; especially boars in the prime of their lives. This can lead to the kind of hanky panky we see more often in teenagers but it does usually not lead to full-on fights and fall-outs if they have the space to get away from each other and cannot be cornered in a hut with just one exit a dead space in the cage.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars (see chapter 3)

All the best!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

Just use all the usual tricks to avoid flashpoints for conflict.

The wild ancestor species from which guinea pigs have been bred out from as farm animals several thousand years ago has a distinct breeding season between Spring and Autumn when fresh grass (high in vitamin C) and supplementing whild forage is in plentiful supply. Our domesticated guinea pig breed does no longer have a distinct breeding season but boars can in some cases experience stronger hormone spikes in early spring when their sexual drive would kind of wake up; especially boars in the prime of their lives. This can lead to the kind of hanky panky we see more often in teenagers but it does usually not lead to full-on fights and fall-outs if they have the space to get away from each other and cannot be cornered in a hut with just one exit a dead space in the cage.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars (see chapter 3)

All the best!
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Thank you! They’re so stressful 🙈 we’re doing all we can to keep them happy but sometimes they just seem to want to annoy each other, naughty!
 
moodysuzy said:
Thank you! They’re so stressful 🙈 we’re doing all we can to keep them happy but sometimes they just seem to want to annoy each other, naughty!
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This is unfortunately one of the naughty times! :mal:
 
Wiebke said:
This is unfortunately one of the naughty times! :mal:
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Sadly things took a dramatic turn for the worse last night 😔 I was woken up by Prawn screaming and it looks like Goose has bitten his face, ripped open one of his eyelids and potentially damaged the eye. I cleaned up his eye and we’ll be on our way to the vet this morning.

I’m genuinely devastated for both of them, Goose is a rescue pig, we’ve only had him 4 months and I’m so sad he’s either going to have to live separated from Prawn or maybe be sent back if he’s clearly unhappy with that arrangement. He’s such a lovely pig usually. And poor Prawn, his eye looks awful. I’m just so gutted by it all.
 
I hope his eye is ok. Did you separate them now? I’m so sorry it hasn’t worked out. ☹️
 
Such a shame. I have two boars and it is always my worry that they will start to fight. So far so good. But you never know.
 
I am very sorry. Fingers firmly crossed!

Please always separate asap if things don't go well; even if you have to stick one boy in your laundry basket or the carrier for a few days.
 
Wiebke said:
I am very sorry. Fingers firmly crossed!

Please always separate asap if things don't go well; even if you have to stick one boy in your laundry basket or the carrier for a few days.
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Poor Prawn had to have surgery to clean his eye and stitch together his eyelid.

My feelings are that the boys will never be able to be together again after this. I’ll be keeping them separate while Prawn’s eye heals, but is there even any point entertaining the idea of a reintroduction?

They have a c&c cage so we can split that down the middle and see how we go. At the moment Prawn is in the holiday cage in our bedroom 😂
 
moodysuzy said:
Poor Prawn had to have surgery to clean his eye and stitch together his eyelid.

My feelings are that the boys will never be able to be together again after this. I’ll be keeping them separate while Prawn’s eye heals, but is there even any point entertaining the idea of a reintroduction?

They have a c&c cage so we can split that down the middle and see how we go. At the moment Prawn is in the holiday cage in our bedroom 😂
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I'm sorry to hear this. I hope he recovers well.

No, there is no point. Such a fight does sadly mean they are not compatible and should not be put together again
 
moodysuzy said:
Poor Prawn had to have surgery to clean his eye and stitch together his eyelid.

My feelings are that the boys will never be able to be together again after this. I’ll be keeping them separate while Prawn’s eye heals, but is there even any point entertaining the idea of a reintroduction?

They have a c&c cage so we can split that down the middle and see how we go. At the moment Prawn is in the holiday cage in our bedroom 😂
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Hi
They will never go back together after this but they can live in a divided cage.
 
I am so sorry this has happened, and it isn't just a boar thing either.
I had a pair of girls who had lived together for almost 2 years when one of my pigs (yes, that would be Ruby to those of you who know her) decided she didn't want to live with Lucy anymore. Or anyone at all, but that's another story...

The good news is that you have a decent sized C&C, so hopefully with a basic divider wall made of grids they can still live side by side with contact through the bars, but without being able to hurt each other.

Good luck with everything and give yourself a few days to recover - these sudden incidents can be a huge shock to owners as well!
 
Thank you everyone ♥️ I’m really hoping they can live next to each other happily.
 
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